I Stole Your Wallet, You Stole My Heart
by PuppnReckie
Summary: Shippo is a sneak thief working for a man named Naraku so he can get money to live. He's homeless; one little mishap and he's caught in the act by a girl named Souten, but she lets him off; and now his thoughts are all her. That could lead to trouble.
1. Chapter 1

A small figure silently worked open the window to the house. Inch by inch, the window opened until he could work himself inside. Once inside the house, he crept to where he had seen the owner of the house hide it. He silently removed the painting and held an ear to the wall. He twisted the dial, listening for each click.   
  
A young black haired girl heard a bit of creaking and clicking downstairs. It might've just been Manten again. But she decided to go down to check anyway.  
  
The safe opened, and he cautiously reached inside of it.   
  
Souten reached the bottom of the steps and walked into the dining room to see a boy about her age walking away from the safe behind the painting. "What they hell are you doing?" She asked raising an eyebrow. He jumped, then slowly turned around. His eyes were wide with fear. Of all the times he had done this, this was the first time he was caught. "What the hell are you doing?" She repeated.  
  
"I…umm…." He managed to squeak out.   
  
"Well…?" She snapped.  
  
"H-here." he placed down what he took from the safe and edged back towards the window.  
  
"Hey!" She called. "What's your name?"  
  
"…Shippo."  
  
"Shippo...." She repeated quietly. Then she smiled walking back to her room. "That's a chance meeting not soon forgotten."  
  
Once outside, Shippo let out the breath he had been holding. All those times, in and out, not being caught. And yet, the one person to catch him was a young girl. "And she let me go." he said quietly, disappearing down an alleyway.  
  
"Hello Shippo." A voice crooned. "If I hear correctly you were caught tonight...."  
  
He shuddered and looked down. "You heard correctly." he muttered.  
  
"Well...that's new isn't it?"  
  
"So what if it is?" Shippo asked bitterly.  
  
"Well if you keep getting caught you'll end up in jail. But living on the streets as you do you might just go to jail anyway."  
  
"I've only been caught once. And it won't happen again." Shippo replied  
  
"Here's your pay for what you got me last week punk. Now go." He shoved two one hundred-dollar bills into the boys' hand and walked off. Shippo looked down at the money in his hands, then scampered off the other way. 


	2. Chapter 2

The next morning, Souten and her family were sitting at the table. "Why wasn't it in the safe?" Hiten asked angrily.  
  
"Uh...I took it out to look at it last night, and I was so tired I must've forgotten to put it up. Sorry bro." Souten said looking at the ceiling.   
  
"...Fine...just make sure you don't do it again. You know how valuable it is, and if anything happened to it..." he trailed off, and even though he seemed calm, he was still angry.  
  
"Okay, will do. Now, I gotta go or I'll be late for school, bye!" Hiten nodded, and Manten waved bye. She waved back and disappeared out the door with her books.  
  
"Ok, I've got it." Shippo handed over an item. Souten kept walking. Then she saw a brown haired man talking to a shorter red haired boy, about her age, the boy was handing the man something. It was him...the robber.  
  
The brown haired man handed him a few bills. "Here you little punk." He said tapping the kid in the jaw. Shippo saluted (2 fingers to the forehead and down), which was his was of saying thanks and bye. He then ran off. All of a sudden, he bumped into someone. The bills fell from his hand.   
  
"Watch it!" She snapped.   
  
He looked up. 'It's that girl from before!' Frightened, he jumped up and ran off, forgetting about the bills.   
  
"Hey! Shippo!" She called after the boy. He kept running and turned down an alleyway. Souten picked up the bills and ran after him. "Shippo!" Shippo, having lived on them, knew the alleys like the back of his hand. He turned one way, and then took another alley, climbing up the fire escape. "Hey! Dude I just wanted to give you the cash back man you don't have to run from me!" She yelled up frustrated. That stopped him. He turned and looked down at her. "Come down. I'm not reporting you! I swear!" She said smiling. He hesitated, but then climbed quickly down. "Here." She said handing him the money. "My names Souten...."  
  
"…Thanks…." He said taking the bills.   
  
"You look starved." She said looking at the skinny boy. His clothes hung lose and ragged on him. Shippo looked down at the ground, feeling sort of ashamed.  
  
"Don't be ashamed!" She exclaimed. She then tugged on the tan vest he was wearing, along with the dirty blue jeans and turquoise T-shirt. His hair was shaggy and dirty. "If you don't have anywhere to go...lets go get you a shower or something. At my school...."  
  
"…School?"  
  
"Yeah...come on...we can sneak through the back!" He cracked a smile. Sneaking around was what he did best. "Come on then!" She said taking his hand and dragging him to her school. They slunk around the back of the school and she opened the door to the boys' locker rooms.   
  
She pulled him through the door and into the showers. She led him to the sink and stuck his head down in it and turned the water on medium-hot. She then grabbed some hand soap and scrubbed his hair. "Strip." She demanded. His face immediately turned red. But he turned around and quickly took his clothes off. She, also red in the face, took his clothes and walked to a separate stall.   
  
'She's being so nice...' he thought.   
  
He heard the sound of running water. "Get in a stall and shower Shippo!" He stepped inside one of the stalls and showered. He heard the water in the stall beside him turn off and Souten came out and went to the hand dryer in the corner and turned it on. Beginning to dry his clothes.  
  
Shippo was done with his shower, but he decided to wait in the stall until she was done. "Umm...when you're done...could you just toss them over?" he asked hesitantly. She tossed him a towel instead.   
  
"Here." She called. He dried himself off, then wrapped the towel around his waist. She tossed him his boxers, socks, and undershirt. He quickly put them on and waited for the rest of his clothes. She threw him his shoes [worn in old Chuck Taylor Converse] and shirt. He also pulled these on. "Okay, your pants are almost ready, here's your vest." She said handing him the vest. He happily put the vest on. It had been a gift from his father, and he didn't like to take it off often. After another minute or two she gave him his pants back. After he pulled them on she pulled him out of the school.   
  
He again thanked her. "Don't you have to be in school?" he asked.  
  
"I don't care about school. My brothers don't care if I'm not in school. Lets go, I'll buy you some food and new clothes." She offered pulling her wallet out of her pocket.  
  
"I don't need new clothes though." he said, looking at himself. His clothes fit fine, so what need was there for more?  
  
"Just so they don't get ruined is all I'm saying kid!" she said putting her hands up in a defeated posture.  
  
"No, that's ok. Thanks though." his stomach growled. "But I'll gladly accept that offer for food!" he said grinning.  
  
"You must not eat much...." She said wincing at the loudness of his stomach's demand for food.  
  
"I eat what I can get." he said, shrugging.  
  
"McDonalds, or Wendy's?" She asked thumbing through her wallet.  
  
"McDonalds!" he exclaimed happily. "They have the best hamburgers!"  
  
"Can you settle with sausage biscuit until lunch?" She asked. "Cause they don't serve hamburgers 'til after 10:30.…"   
  
"Okay."   
  
They walked to the nearest McDonalds and Souten walked to the counter. "I need...6 sausage biscuits, 6 hash browns, an order of pancakes, and 2 orange juices dude." She requested. The boy at the counter, about 21 looked at her.  
  
"Shouldn't you be at school?" He asked.  
  
"None of your concern Nobunaga." She snapped. [Any stupid people Nobunaga was in an episode called 'The Toad Who Would Be Prince']  
  
"Okay...whatever." He said handing her the food. "Your total is $19.57." She handed him a twenty.  
  
"Keep the change for my smart mouth." She said walking to Shippo. They found a booth table and she gave him half of all of the food and a drink and one and a half pancakes. "Here." He smiled gratefully and dug in, minding not to eat like an animal. It wouldn't be 'improper'. Souten ate just as fast as he did. She then paused to look up at him. "Hey...do you wanna go to the mall or something? The least I could do is get you a new pair of shoes. Those look like they're about to rip at the seams." She said kicking his foot gently.  
  
He looked down. It was true; his shoes were pretty old. "I guess." He then took a few napkins and wrapped up the last of his food for later.  
  
"I'll buy you some lunch too. You should keep that money for more food later…." She said pointing to the pocket the money he had was in.  
  
"Not now though." He said sternly.  
  
"Yeah, okay whatever come on...." She said wrapping the last of her own food in a napkin for later. They walked across the street to the mall and went to the nearest shoe store. Ten minutes later they emerged, against his will she had also bought him a few pairs of socks, a hat, and some shoe laces for his knew [blue] Converse.  
  
Shippo was really happy. No one had ever been this nice to him since his dad had died. "Shippo, do you want like, a CD player and some CDs or something?" She asked him looking at the music shop.  
  
He shook his head. "No, that's ok."  
  
"Can I...get you some new underwear at least? One pair isn't healthy...."  
  
Shippo grinned at this. "Don't worry, I've got more."  
  
"Well, I insist on buying you more 'essentials' as my brothers girlfriend calls them, just so I'm sure your at least remotely clean. And maybe some soap and deodorant." She said elbowing him playfully.  
  
"If you insist." Shippo made a little bow, indicating her to go first. She walked into a department store, and in ten minutes had gotten, three 10 packs of undershirts, 2, 5 packs of basic T-shirt's, 5 7 packs of boxers and a new pair of jeans. [Just because] After they were done shopping, Shippo noticed that it was getting kinda dark. It was time to meet him again. "…I have to go now." he told Souten.   
  
"Can we hang out some other time maybe? If you meet me before school I'll bring you breakfast...." She offered.  
  
"Okay…seeya Shippo!" She said waving and walking her way.  
  
Shippo waved goodbye. 'I'll be late if I don't hurry!' he thought. It wasn't good to make him wait long. He took off down the alley.   
  
Souten rushed home. Hiten and Manten would still be at work when she got home. But she really wanted to be home and have dinner cooked for her brothers. The normal routine. 'Because…everything is normal. Normal.' She told herself quietly. 


	3. Chapter 3

"I'm here.." Shippo said, panting slightly. He had rushed through the alleys to get there on time.  
  
"Good, brat." Naraku snarled. "You were almost late!"  
  
"Almost is the key word."  
  
Naraku glared at the boy. "And, if it happens again. I'll kill you. Got it?"   
  
Shippo gulped. "Y-yes sir."  
  
"Good. You need to get it from that safe punk. I'm not one to give too many second chances. So get it this time or I won't be doing business with you anymore punk."  
  
"R-right. Anything else?" Shippo questioned  
  
"Stay away from that...girl." He warned walking away.  
  
Shippo was too busy thinking to hear that last sentence. 'But…I can't steal from Souten...it wouldn't be right...after everything she did for me..' He then looked over his consequences. 'But if I don't.' He gulped again. 'Naraku would probably kill me...but if I do...Souten'll get mad at me..' Shippo pounded his head. "What am I supposed to do?!" He cried out.  
  
"What are you yelling about kid?" A rough voice snapped. Shippo jumped. Without turning around, Shippo took off. The other boy chased him and grabbed him by the collar of his shirt. Yanking him down eye-level Shippo noted a few interesting features, sharp golden eyes, long silver hair, maybe 16 or 17, and two...fuzzy...little dog-ears. "Listen kid. Don't run when there's nothin' to run from!" He snapped.  
  
"Y-yes sir."  
  
"Don't give me that 'sir' crap my names Inuyasha Taiyoukai." He snapped. "Who're you?"  
  
"S-Shippo." He muttered.  
  
"Well Shippo- Aw crap! Sesshomaru!" He said as a new figure swept into the alley grabbing Inuyasha [still holding Shippo by the collar] by the collar. He struggled to get free from his big brothers grasp but couldn't. Shippo noted in the dim light, longer, shinier silver hair, and sharper golden eyes for the elder brother, and…Elf-ears. "Lego o me Sess! I only ran away cause you only care about Rin and NOT ME!" He whined.  
  
"Shut up Inuyasha I'm only dragging you back because Father would roll in his grave seeing this. And your quite wrong, I care about Rin and her mother, still, not you ya little dog-eared brat." He said dragging him along.  
  
"If you don't like me, then you shouldn't care about where I go!" Inuyasha cried out  
  
"Well...seeing as I'm your legal guardian I have to care. I'm sorry if your disappointed Inuyasha Michael Taiyoukai. Let go of the kid and come home." Inuyasha growled, and dropped Shippo. Once Shippo's feet touched ground, he ran off.  
  
Souten tossed in her sleep. IWhat from that vault did Shippo want? Why did he want it anyway?/I She thought to herself. She thought this until she fell asleep. But still couldn't get the boy out of her head. Was he safe? Was he warm? What if he was hurt dying on the street? IDon't think that Souten! He's prolly just wandering around!/I She berated. Then she heard something downstairs. So she decided to check. She walked downstairs to see the redhead, Shippo, sitting by the open vault crying silently. "Sh-sh-Shippo?" She whispered.  
  
The boy didn't hear her. "I-I can't do it...I won't do it...he can't make me.." he whispered  
  
"Shippo?" She repeated a little louder.   
  
He looked up. "I..I won't do it. It wouldn't be right.."  
  
"What are you talking about?" She said kneeling beside him.  
  
"He...He wants me to...but I won't...not after everything you've done to help me.."  
  
"What do you mean, who is 'he' and what are you talking about?" She asked.  
  
"He...wants me to take it." he finally said. [She should know what 'it' is]  
  
"Who?"   
  
"My...employer..."  
  
"Oh...do you wanna stay in my room tonight? You can sneak out and hang around across the street in the morning and we can go get some food before I leave for school...." She offered putting a hand on his shoulder.  
  
".." He started crying again. "He's going to hurt me now!" he sobbed.  
  
"I won't let him...I know some good fighter-for-hire guys...." She said smirking, thinking about the seven-man squad her brother hung with.  
  
"O-ok.." he cracked a small smile, but knowing that fighters wouldn't stop Naraku.  
  
"And if all else fails. We'll leave the country." She joked, pulling him to his feet and sneaking up the stairs. He grinned. He'd be safe tonight. They got to her room and she flopped down on the bed.  
  
"Where should I sleep?" he asked.  
  
She blushed a little. "You can sleep in my bed with me. I sleep like a rock mostly." She offered scooting to one said.  
  
"Umm...ok." He said, knowing darn well that he'd be on the floor by the end of the night. He climbed into the bed.  
  
She looked at him in the dim light. "Shippo...." She muttered.   
  
"Yes?"  
  
"How old are you?"   
  
"13." He said simply.  
  
"Really? Me too!"  
  
"Who'd have guessed?" he said smiling.  
  
"I dunno. What's your last name?" She asked.  
  
"...Kistunebi," he said softly.  
  
"...Raiden...and if I know my Japanese correctly, that's Thunder and FoxFire...kinda strange." She said with a tiny laugh. He laughed, but the laugh turned into a yawn. Within a minute of Shippo's yawn Souten had fallen asleep against Shippo's side. Snoring lightly. Shippo smiled and fell asleep also.   
  
"Shippo, my brothers are coming in to wake me up in a second. Hide under my bed!" She snapped that morning. He quickly got up and scooted under the bed and up against the wall.  
  
A few minutes later, voices were heard. "Souten, time to get up!" Hiten called as he opened the door.  
  
"Okay bro! I'm just gonna get ready and head to school, I'll pick up breakfast on the way there!"   
  
"Ok." Hiten then left, with Manten following close behind complaining about hunger. Soon, their arguing voices could be heard fading.  
  
"Okay Shippo you can come out." She said sighing in relief. He stuck his head back out, looking up at her face. "What're you lookin at dude?" She asked raising an eyebrow.   
  
"Nothing." he said quickly and got up the rest of the way. "So you're going to school today?"  
  
"Got ta my friend, meet me at 4:30 at the park downtown so we can hang out!" She said grabbing a pair of pants, a shirt, and some 'unmentionables'. "Go out my window, wait for me at the McDonald's near my school, k?"  
  
"Ok." He did his little salute and went out the window. She quickly got dressed and ran downstairs, grabbed her CD player and her books and ran to catch up with the boy.   
  
"I'm here...." She said finally catching up to him, panting heavily.  
  
"What took you?" he asked grinning.  
  
"Had to get dressed!" She said pointing to the neon green pants and black shirt.  
  
"Okay."   
  
They ate breakfast and he walked with her to her school. "Member dude, park at 4:30, seeya then!" She said with a parting wave.  
  
"See ya!" He called back doing the two-fingered salute. 


	4. Chapter 4

'I'm bored.' Souten thought to herself as the teacher droned on…and on for what seemed to be an eternity, even though the class was an hour. Souten drifted into sleep. She had a strange dream where she and her brothers were powerful demons and she had a boyfriend that looked like Shippo with a foxtail.  
  
"Ms. Raiden." Her teacher's voice snapped her awake.  
  
"Where's the cannon?" She said shooting up.  
  
"There is no cannon. Please read the next paragraph."  
  
"I don't want to, I apologize if you've wet your pants from anticipation to prove I can't read, but I can so sorry." She snorted arrogantly.  
  
"I see you most likely weren't paying attention." The teacher then turned to another student, who started to read.  
  
'Blah, blah…that's all I ever hear from these people.' She thought in disgust. 'Shippo's lucky he doesn't have to put up with this….' Souten got through the next to classes easily until she cut 4th to get out in the open air. She had saved her lunch to give some to Shippo if she saw him.  
  
"I-I'm sorry!" Shippo whimpered cowering in front of Naraku.  
  
"Sorry doesn't cut it!" Naraku snapped his fist colliding with Shippo's skull. Shippo clutched his head in pain. "What do you have to say for yourself you insolent brat?!"  
  
"I-I couldn't d-do it!"  
  
"And why not?" He said grabbing the boy by his collar.  
  
"B-because she helped m-me."  
  
"Who?" He snapped.  
  
"T-the girl w-who lives there."  
  
He threw the trembling boy down and spat at his feet. "I'll deal with you later, brat." Once Shippo was sure Naraku was gone, he got up and ran off as fast as he could. The direction he took was towards the park.  
  
Souten looked up to see Shippo running into the park. She stood up and waved at him. "Hey Shippo!" She cried. The boy looked at her and ran over. "How are you?"  
  
"Fine." he said, hiding his fear from earlier. She didn't need to get involved in his problems.  
  
She smiled and handed him a paper bag. "Lunch." She offered.  
  
"Thanks." he said, peering into the bag and taking out the sandwich and offering her a bit of it.  
  
"I just ate a little while ago, I'm fine."  
  
"Alright." He ate the sandwich himself.  
  
"So…how's the day been going?"  
  
"Alright." He lied.  
  
"At least one of us has had a tolerable day." She said sighing.  
  
"What was wrong with your day?" he asked curiously.  
  
"Teachers, its always, 'Souten do this' 'Ms. Raiden are you paying attention?' On and on…." She said growling in her throat.  
  
"Sounds like fun." He joked.   
  
"Yeah…."  
  
The hairs on Shippo's neck stood on end, and he glanced past Souten. His face paled. "Oh no…not here, not now…."  
  
"Are…you okay?" She asked unsure of his actions.  
  
"I-I have to go. Right now. I need you to go in the other direction. Don't follow me." He said, taking off quickly, not giving her any time to ask anything. 'Don't let him have seen.' he thought, hoping he hadn't.  
  
She took off in the opposite direction. 'I…wonder what was wrong….' She thought.  
  
Meanwhile, Shippo darted through the alleys until he thought he was safe. He dropped down panting, leaning against the wall.  
  
Souten got home around the same time school would be letting out and walked up to her room.  
  
Shippo thought about it for a second. "Naraku knows…he always knows…." He said with a small sigh. 


	5. Chapter 5

Souten walked down the stairs, stretching after a good night's sleep. "Morning Hiten!" she said cheerfully as she walked into the kitchen.  
  
"Hey Shrimp why are you so happy?"  
  
She shrugged. "I just had a good sleep."  
  
"Good sleep equals happy sister Brother Hiten." Manten said smiling.  
  
"Yeah, yeah whatever." Hiten said kicking his feet up on the antique dining room table. Souten then walked over to the counter and got breakfast ready.  
  
"Are you busy today Hiten?" Manten asked conversationally.  
  
"Yeah, Bankotsu and Jakotsu are coming over to discuss business. Remember Jakotsu and Bankotsu right Souten?" He asked, ending a bit loudly.  
  
"Right."  
  
"The gay ones, brother?" Manten asked raising an eyebrow with a joking smile. Hiten just nodded.  
  
"…Don't remind me of that factor Manten." Hiten said smirking. "Almost done in there Souten?"  
  
"Yes, it's coming now." She walked out balancing the plates and set them down on the table.  
  
The two young men dug in and Hiten paused simply to say: "Great stuff Souten, like always."  
  
"Of course it is. I made it." She said proudly.  
  
"So what are your plans for the day, little brother, little sister?" Hiten asked finishing the plate and looking at his younger siblings.  
  
"I'm just hanging around." Souten said simply.  
  
"I have to say the same."  
  
"Well Yura's coming over after Jakotsu and Bankotsu leave, so…well be out of the house after 4'o'clock."  
  
"Not that we'd wanna be around to watch you guys kissing anyway."  
  
"Hey! Shut it Squirt, you'll do it eventually!"  
  
"Yeah, but it's still disgusting."  
  
"Ya know Souten, it's about time you gotta boyfriend…." Hiten started.  
  
"Yeah, yeah, heard it all before."  
  
Hiten laughed. "And your point? You're gettin old, kid ya need someone to have fun with!"  
  
"Well." she grinned mischievously. "Maybe I do," with that said, she ran out the door yelling, "see you later!"  
  
"Whatever, such a strange kid." Manten said shaking his bald head.  
  
After she got out of the house, Souten walked off in the first direction that came to mind, towards the park. After walking around a bit more, she sat down, or rather, laid down, on a bench, staring up into the sky. "Can I join you Miss Souten?" A young slightly sarcastic voice from behind her came. Just then Shippo's head appeared in her line of vision.  
  
"Oh, hey Shippo." She said smiling.  
  
He jumped over and sat down on the arm of the bench. "So, what's up?"  
  
"Nothing much, you?"   
  
"What do expect, I have NOTHING to do." He said sighing.  
  
"Heh…same here."  
  
"Yeah. Life sucks." He said shrugging.  
  
"Yup."  
  
He nodded. "So what do you wanna do today?" He asked.  
  
"I dunno, what do you want to do?"  
  
"Lets go walking."   
  
"Alright."  
  
So they walked out of the park. As they walked by a flower stand a man looked at Shippo. "Flower for your girlfriend kid?"  
  
Shippo pulled some money from his pockets. "That one." He said pointing to a yellow rose with black tips on it. The guy handed it to him and took the 5 dollars. Shippo blushed and handed the rose to Souten.  
  
She took it, her face slightly red. "Thanks Shippo."  
  
"No problem. I thought you'd like it." He said somewhat vaguely.  
  
"Of course I like it."  
  
He blushed a little more and looked down. "Good. I'm glad." He mumbled. She grinned and ruffled his hair. He laughed slightly and tugged her pigtails. "Stop it!" He said jokingly.  
  
"Oh fine…." She said pretending to pout. "You know what Shippo?"  
  
"Hmm…?"  
  
"Hiten was telling me to get a boyfriend." She smiled. "I told him I already had one."  
  
"Huh?! You do? Who?"  
  
"Take a guess." She said playfully.   
  
"Not a clue."  
  
"No really. Take a guess. Who's a boy that I hang out with a lot? You know him already." she hinted.   
  
"Uh…oh! ME?"  
  
"If ya wanna be that is."  
  
"Sure."  
  
"Yay!" she squealed as she hugged him.  
  
He hugged her back with a small smile. "Do I have to meet your brothers now?"  
  
"Probably. Hiten'll just bug me till I do." 


End file.
